


i'm high on loving you

by captainsabs (juliansweigl)



Series: kids in love [1]
Category: Pitch Perfect (Movies)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-04
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-07-06 16:43:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,022
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15889989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/juliansweigl/pseuds/captainsabs
Summary: “She’s more scared of you than you are of her.” Chloe sings as she collects another egg.“Bullshit.” Beca mutters.“I was talking to the chicken.” Chloe grins only fueling Beca’s annoyance.





	i'm high on loving you

**Author's Note:**

> so... this is a new series focusing on Beca's summers in Georgia on her dad's ranch. i hope you like it!

Beca likes her life.

 

Beca likes growing up in Portland, spending her weekends at coffee shops with her friends and down at a nearby skate-park showing off with new tricks that she had spent hours studying and watching YouTube video tutorials on. Beca loves her mom; they’re close but not too close that spending too long with each other would cause them to butt heads. Beca likes school; she’s not popular but she’s not unpopular, she enjoys English class mostly but she can be a math whiz when she tries. Beca has a dog, Mattie, she’s a Labrador and her parents adopted her as Beca’s twelfth birthday present. Beca and Mattie go on long walks on a Saturday morning down by the pier. It’s not a perfect life but it’s perfect enough for the sixteen year old.

 

What Beca doesn’t like is being flown over two thousand miles from home to a small-town in Georgia to visit her dad for the summer having not seen him since she was thirteen. Beca doesn’t verbally voice her hatred for her mom’s decision but she sure as hell thinks it when Lisa Mitchell shoves a plane ticket into Beca’s hand and zips up the backpack that’s on her back before pushing Beca towards departures – having the _audacity_ to wave and tell her to have a great summer.

 

It’s not that Beca hates her dad, not by any means. It wasn’t a malicious divorce between her parents and there isn’t any bad blood between her parents that she knows of but a divorce still hurts and when her dad moved to Georgia to own his own ranch, Beca and him just drifted apart and the years went by and suddenly it wasn’t talking every night and Skype dates every Sunday night. It was barely five minute long phone calls on birthdays and Christmases. Beca understands that he’s busy, that he has a new life and she had accepted that those five minute phone calls were as close as she was getting to keeping a relationship with him and she’s _fine_ with it.

 

When the plane touches down in Atlanta; Beca pulls her earphones out of her ears and wraps them around her phone as she stands on her tiptoes and tries to grasp the base of the overhead locker and reach in to grab her bright red backpack, she can’t and the teenage boy who was sitting across from her reaches up and grabs it for her.

 

“Here ‘ya go darlin’.” He smiles, teeth as white as snow and Beca wonders if he’s ever seen snow before, judging by his accent.

 

“Thanks.” Beca mumbles as she tightens her grip on her backpack strap and rushes off the plane, cheeks as red as the sunburn she’s definitely going to get in the Georgia heat.

 

Beca hates waiting, she hates lines and her phone is only one three percent so she’s bored as she agonizingly waits to go and retrieve her suitcase and find her dad. She wonders how much he’s going to have changed in three years; will he have a beard, wear an entire outfit of flannel, will he have a Southern drawl to his gruff voice that she remembers? Beca wonders if he’s even going to recognize her because after all she’s sixteen now, she doesn’t have braces, she’s learnt that there are other hairstyles than a braid and she doesn’t have chipmunk cheeks anymore. Beca finds it absurd how nervous she is, this is _her_ dad, the man who put her to bed every night for ten years, the man who took her to baseball games and softball practice and the man who _was_ her very best friend.

 

Her hands shake as she pulls her suitcase through the airport. She stops off to the side and looks around the people waiting, some already reunited with their loved ones, some jump into arms and others opt for a simple hug or a kiss. She thinks about what she’s going to do when she sees her dad – will she jump into his arms or will she try to see if he remembers their handshake, _will_ she just shake his hand or will she wave and say ‘hey dad’.

 

“Beca!”

 

She looks up and suddenly all the feelings come flooding back and she feels like a little girl again as she spies her dad through the crowd; he’s not wearing an entire outfit of flannel, he still looks the same if not for a little gray hair, he has stubble but not a full beard and he looks the epitome of excitement as he waits for Beca to run up to him – so she does.

 

Her suitcase is forgotten and her backpack flies behind her as she rushes into the arms she used to wait hours for to return from home. It all feels surreal, as though the last three years of her life hadn’t happened and she’s still that brace-face, chipmunk cheeked, braid-wearing twelve year old who had never known heartbreak.

 

“Hey dad.”

 

“How’ve you been kiddo?” John asks her and Beca tries to play off the warm feeling in her chest at her dad still sounding gruff and not entirely Southern.

 

“Cool.”

 

“Cool?” John repeats; his eyes bugging out at the one-word reply.

 

“Yeah, I’m cool.” Beca smiles as she turns and jogs back to retrieve her suitcase. “How’ve you been dad?”

 

“Cool.” John teases, nudging Beca’s shoulder as the pair walk out to the parking lot and to the beat-up truck that Beca jokes about him winning in a box of cereal because _there is no way you paid money for this_.

 

They talk about life on the journey, it’s a long drive once they’re out of the city and Beca’s subjected to coughing fits from the dirt tracks they drive up, the truck bumps and jolts forward and Beca knees the air-conditioning more than a few times. Music plays on the radio but it’s not loud enough to hum along to but it still feels nice, it feels somewhat normal.

 

“Sheila is excited to finally meet you.” John turns the radio off completely and waits patiently for Beca’s reply. “She’s been excited to meet you since I told her you were coming for the summer.”

 

“ _Great_.” Beca forces out, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth as she stares out of the window.

 

Beca remembers now why she was so hell-bent on coming for the summer – her dad’s _new_ , _better_ , _preferred_ family. Beca remembers slamming her bedroom door and locking herself in her bedroom when her mom handed her an envelope that contained an invitation to her dad’s wedding two years ago, she screamed and cried and tore up a photograph of her and her dad at the beach when she was seven. She laughed bitterly and stormed out of the kitchen when her dad told her about Sheila’s kids and how he was enjoying getting to know them. Beca regrets telling him to stop contacting her and play house with his new kids but she was fourteen, confused and hurt.

 

John takes Beca’s silence as a hint and turns the radio back on, keeping his mouth shut about the new stepfamily that Beca’s about to enter into for seven weeks. The drive is longer after that, the awkward tension in the van doesn’t cease and with the radio seemingly only able to play country music, Beca’s irritation continues to increase over the following hour until the truck makes a sharp right turn and drives up a narrower path. The sounds of animals, people and home-baked cooking signals to Beca that they’re nearly there. The truck comes to a halt outside a beautiful, country house that looks plucked straight from a movie but neither Beca or John make the first move to leave the truck or speak until John does.

 

“Can you try to be nice?” He asks her.

 

Beca scoffs and rolls her eyes but she turns to him with the sweetest, sickliest, overly-fake smile she can muster.

 

“Why father-” she laughs. “- I wouldn’t _dare_ want to insult your family, hell, maybe I can even see what you see in them.” The smile drops as soon as she finishes speaking and she pushes open the truck door and hops out, slamming the door shut.

 

Beca turns around at the sound of squealing as a woman and three children with the oldest who can’t be any older than fourteen come rushing out of the house and over to the truck. The woman reaches Beca first and engulfs her in a tight hug that causes Beca to inhale sharply.

 

“Beca, oh my, it’s so lovely to finally meet you – I’m Sheila, your dad’s – you know.” She laughs as she releases Beca from the hug with a smile still plastered to her lips. “How was your flight?”

 

One of Beca’s worst habits is she judges people too quickly; she usually has an opinion on someone within three seconds of meeting them and even if her opinion is wrong she usually sticks by it because once she thinks a certain way about someone she doesn’t usually change her mind. Beca already had an opinion on Sheila before she had even met the woman and maybe the judgment had stemmed from watching way too many movies on the evil stepmother that she fully expected Sheila to be a monster – like Meredith in The Parent Trap. Though there’s something about her floury apron, hair pulled back in a loose bun and her toothy grin that shows no signs of disappearing that Beca thinks she could have been a little too rash.

 

“These are my children – and I suppose your siblings – introduce yourselves guys.” Sheila gestures to the three children.

 

“I’m Caroline.” The eldest waves.

 

“I’m Owen.” The only boy waves.

 

“Hailey!” The youngest exclaims with a giggle as she walks forward and reaches up to wrap her hand around Beca’s. “Hi.”

 

“Uh – hey kid.” Beca shrugs as she shakes the toddler’s hand.

 

John slowly climbs out of the truck and closes the door as he walks around and pulls Beca’s suitcase out. Beca crosses her arms over her chest as the kids run around the opposite side of the truck whilst Sheila carefully pats Beca’s shoulder and tells her that she has to go and check on her baking before she retreats back into the house.

 

Beca takes this a moment to look around her home for the summer. It’s boiling hot, that’s the first thing that Beca notices and she’s sweating through the navy t-shirt and black jeans that she stupidly wore. There are a lot of fences, she’s sure she can see a stable at the far end behind the house. There are people walking around doing various jobs and Beca wonders whether she’s going to be subjected to the same manual labor during the next eight weeks.

 

“Honey, show Beca to her room.” John tells Caroline who nods excitedly and rushes up to Beca, carrying her suitcase and pulls Beca by the arm into the house despite Beca’s want to protest.

 

The room is small and looks as though it was decorated by her Grandma but she gets a bathroom and a closet big enough to store away all eight pairs of sweats and six hoodies that she brought with her (and her other clothes but she doesn’t plan on actually leaving her room). Caroline explains the deal with her siblings and the ranch, she warns Beca of the wake-up call to expect at five in the morning and just before she leaves she frowns and turns around.

 

“I know this is the last place you want to be so this must suck for you, I’m sorry.”

 

Beca doesn’t get a chance to respond before Caroline leaves and walks down the hall and Beca can only sit and wonder what opinion her new family already has on her. Beca starts to unpack but she gets distracted by loud shouting coming from outside so she crosses her room and looks out of the window where she finds a group standing outside, huddled together and laughing loudly. They look as though they’re having so much fun and Beca imagines all the summer fun she could be having back home with her _actual_ friends.

 

Speaking of home, Beca swipes her phone up from the bed and rushes downstairs and out of the house to try and get a signal to call home and tell her mom that she got here safely. Beca walks for ages, she walks in each and every direction with her phone held above her head as she tries to get at least a bar but it’s almost as though she has fallen off the face of the Earth and she’s not just in small-town Georgia.

 

“Good luck getting a signal.” A voice laughs from behind her causing Beca to jump and spin around. “Nobody gets a signal in these parts, _too rural_.”

 

It’s a girl; she’s got red hair, striking blue eyes and a piece of hay sticking out of her hair as she holds a bucket in one hand. She’s wearing a blue flannel with the sleeves pulled up to her elbows and she’s half-smirking at Beca as she still holds her phone above her head.

 

“If you want to call somebody you gotta do what all the old-fashioned folk do and use a telephone. I think John has one, ask and he’ll let you use it.”

 

“You mean my dad?” Beca grits her teeth as she questions the other girl.

 

The realization hits the girl and the half-smirk turns into a full smirk as she not-so-subtly looks Beca up and down, dropping the bucket to the ground and folding her arms.

 

“So _you’re_ the famous Becky.”

 

“Beca.” Beca corrects with a slight growl to her voice.

 

“ _Right_.” Farmer girl draws out. “Well _Beca_ , piece of advice for surviving the summer – may I?” She holds her hand out for Beca’s phone, snapping her fingers as she waits for Beca to hand it over.

 

Beca doesn’t know what she’s doing but she doesn’t ask as the girl messes with her phone before handing it back and suddenly she has Wi-Fi, she doesn’t have a signal but she’ll take what she can.

 

“It’s _our_ personal Wi-Fi in the hangout over there; we had to buy our own because with everybody on John- your dad’s; it was too slow. You don’t have to thank me.”

 

Beca ignores the way all of her messages, emails and notifications come buzzing through within seconds but she doesn’t ignore the amused smile on the redhead’s face at the constant vibrations and it gives her a warm, fuzzy feeling in her chest.

 

“I need to get back to work; see ‘ya ‘round.” The redhead throws a wave over her shoulder as she lifts the bucket back up and retreats.

 

 

XxX

 

 

 

Beca doesn’t fit into her dad’s new life as easily as she expected and she hadn’t really expected to fit into it easily anyway. Sheila’s kind and she’s patient with Beca and Beca is grateful for her stepmom to not expect them to become best friends instantly, Beca and Owen become fast friends, they have similar personalities and love watching baseball on TV. Hailey is quiet and a lot younger than anybody Beca’s had to deal with before but she likes to nap against Beca’s side during the afternoon and Beca loves it because she uses it as an excuse to spend afternoons watching TV instead of sweating in the Georgia sun. Beca and Caroline don’t have much of a friendship, they don’t tend to spend much time together other than when the entire family is together and it bothers Beca more than she’d like but she’s too stubborn to do anything about it.

 

“Caroline Claire you get your damn feet off my coffee table.” Sheila scolds when she walks into the living room one afternoon with grocery bags under each arm.

 

Beca’s sitting at the bay window at the back of the living room, scrolling through her group chat and catching up on everything she’s missing whilst she begs her best friend Stacie to come and visit for at least a week.

 

“Beca Mitchell; do I look like a farmer’s daughter to you?” Stacie is aghast as she asks the question. “I want to relax in the sun and drink coffee in the morning and tequila at night and not feed pigs and milk cows.”

 

“ _Please_. I miss you.” Beca whines as she switches back from her messages to the Facetime call. “I know I’ve only been here for a week but I miss you.”

 

Stacie sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose as she avoids Beca’s eyes. “I’m going to California with my parents next week but I can try and persuade them to let me come and visit later in the summer. How’s that?”

 

“You know you’re the best-est best friend in the world?” Beca fawns as she places a hand over her heart and grins at Stacie.

 

Stacie rolls her eyes. “Sure, love you too dumbass. I’ll see what I can do – just don’t turn into what’s-her-name from Little House on the Prairie before I come.”

 

“I’m more surprised you know what Little House on the Prairie is.” Beca’s eyes are wide as Stacie laughs and mentions something about her Grandma only having one TV channel.

 

“Beca, can you go outside and help with the horses, I’m a little busy.” John appears in the living room from the kitchen.

 

“What about Caroline?” Beca asks, side-eyeing her stepsister who doesn’t even look up from the TV.

 

“Beca.” John narrows his eyes at his daughter until Beca sighs and tells Stacie she has to go.

 

Beca pockets her phone before she reluctantly shuffles out of the house and instantly groans at the mid-afternoon heat, pulling at the collar of her t-shirt as she walks down the steps and looks around to the field of horses to the right of the house. Grumbling, Beca walks over to the field and walks through the gate, scratching the back of her neck as she wonders just what the fuck she’s supposed to do.

 

“When John said he was getting help I expected someone who has actually seen a horse before.”

 

“Nice to see you again too.” Beca grimaces as she meets redhead’s eyes.

 

“Nice attire.” Redhead snorts, eyeing Beca’s Scooby-Doo t-shirt and pink gym shorts. “Also, it’s Chloe. Here, hold this.” Chloe walks towards Beca and wraps the reigns in her hand around Beca’s hand before she jogs away leaving Beca wide-eyed as she stares the horse in its eyes.

 

“So-” Beca laughs nervously. “- What do you like to do for fun around here? Let me guess, you’re a Broncos fan?”

 

“I think he prefers the Falcons. Hometown boy and all that.”

 

Beca glances over her shoulder as Chloe walks back into the field, pulling a bale of hay behind her. Beca lets her gaze fall on Chloe’s arms, swallowing thickly at how defined the muscles in her arms look in the sun as she continues to pull the hay until she’s beside Beca, the tank top that Chloe’s wearing definitely doesn’t help.

 

“Need some help?” Chloe asks but before Beca can answer her; Chloe is already unwrapping the reigns from Beca’s hand, her thumb and fingers grazing Beca’s palms as she does.

 

It feels so intimate, the way Chloe untangles the reigns and how calloused her hands feel against Beca’s as she wraps the reigns around her own hand and takes the rest off the horse before throwing them over her shoulder.

 

“You can go now if you want.” Chloe shrugs as she kicks the bale closer and strokes the horse’s nose.

 

“Cool. This was fun. Thanks.” Beca stammers out, closing her eyes and sighing at how robotic her responses sound as she walks away from the field without a look back.

 

 

“Are you having fun so far?” Sheila asks one morning, it’s coming up to a week and a half since Beca arrived in Georgia and she’s still not used to the crack of dawn wakeup calls. “It’s okay if you’re not; country life isn’t for everyone.”

 

“It’s okay, I don’t resent being here.” Beca shrugs but she silently hopes that Sheila isn’t offended.

 

“I’ll take it.” Sheila laughs as she passes Beca to walk to the refrigerator. “Have you met any of the guys yet? They’re all great and some are your age.”

 

“I met – uh – Chloe?” Beca stammers nervously, grabbing her glass of juice and pressing it against her cheek to try and cool them before she turns bright red. “Twice.”

 

“I’m glad.” Sheila smiles softly. “I’ll be back, I just need to go and wake my lazy kids up before they sleep until noon.”

 

Beca returns to her cereal and her phone, messaging Stacie because despite their time difference; Beca’s early wakeup calls are usually about the time Stacie’s going to stumble home from another party that she’s missing out on back home. The front door opens and Beca jumps as a figure walks into the house, soaking wet and covered in mud.

 

“Are you supposed to be in here?” Beca’s question comes out a lot ruder than she anticipates but Chloe just walks further into the house, her hand on her hip and a small smirk tugging at the corners of her lips.

 

“Why not? It’s not the old days; the owner doesn’t ban the help from the house.” Chloe’s sarcastic reply shouldn’t catch Beca off-guard as much as it does.

 

“I’m – no – that’s not what I meant.” Beca stammers, she’s flustered and she hates the way Chloe is staring at her with that stupid, amused smirk that seems permanently plastered on her lips.

 

“Chill out city girl; I’m just messing with ‘ya.” Chloe laughs as she walks through the kitchen until she reaches the closet by the backdoor and pulls out a towel and wraps it around her shoulders. “Do you _always_ get this flustered or is it just when I’m around?” Chloe’s voice is low as she asks the question and Beca swallows thickly and avoids the redhead’s eyes.

 

“Oh – morning Chloe.” John greets as he walks into the kitchen. “Beca, get dressed; I’m taking you and Caroline to the Farmer’s Market this morning.”

 

“Oh, John-” Chloe calls out. “- Do you mind if I tag-along? My dad gave me a list of things to get.”

 

“Of course.” John smiles before he heads back up the stairs.

 

Beca wonders if this morning could get _any_ worse. Looking down at her phone, she opens the video that’s just come through in the group chat; it’s loud, there’s music blasting and her friends are obviously drunk as they shout ‘we miss you Beca’. Beca frowns as her thumb grazes the screen; apparently it can.

 

Caroline gets to sit in the front seat of the truck meaning that Beca’s sat extremely close to Chloe in the back as Chloe and her dad have a conversation about the ranch that Beca really doesn’t want to listen to. She thinks about home; she thinks about how just about now she would be hauling her ass out of bed because her phone has vibrated twenty times in the past minute as her friends wonder where the fuck she is and that they’re all waiting for her at The Hideout – their favorite coffee shop in Portland because it overlooks the pier. She wonders if her friends are keeping up with the summer plans they made in January because obviously as soon as Christmas is over the only thing they care about is summer.

 

“Actually, I have a lot of stuff to get so is it cool if I take Beca with me?”

 

Beca snaps her head up at the mention of her name to find John and Chloe still in a discussion. John looks between Chloe and Beca before nodding.

 

“Maybe you can bring a smile to her face.” John laughs. “Come on CC.” John and Caroline head off in one direction as Beca climbs out of the truck, slamming the door shut before walking around and stopping in front of Chloe.

 

“You should be lucky I got you; you have never and will never want to see your dad at the Farmer’s Market.” Chloe’s hand on Beca’s shoulder distracts Beca completely that by the time she realizes what Chloe’s said; the moment has passed and she feels awkward asking why she’ll never want to experience her dad at the Farmer’s Market.

 

Beca trails after Chloe in silence, her hands stuffed into her jeans pockets as she stops at every stall and watches Chloe charm everybody from the elders to the dogs that are lying by their owner’s sides. It doesn’t surprise Beca that Chloe seems to be the town’s sweetheart; she has that air of kindness about her.

 

“Oh, your mom loved these flowers didn’t she?”

 

“She did.” Chloe smiles fondly as she hands over money. “It’s getting near that time again and dad wants us to have them in the house.”

 

“Tell your dad I said hey.”

 

“You got it, Sam.” Chloe salutes the woman as she takes the flowers and holds them close to her chest. “Do you like grilled cheese?” Chloe asks as she spins around to face Beca.

 

“Love it?” Beca answers though the words come out as a question.

 

“Don’t seem so scared, I love it too and Sam – the flower woman – she owns a café here that serves the best grilled cheese in Georgia. Fancy one?” Chloe asks and Beca’s surprised at the lack of sarcasm or cockiness that’s in her voice and that catches her off-guard more than anything.

 

“Sounds good.”

 

Chloe smiles as she links her arm through Beca’s and leads her through the crowd of people and down the street until they arrive at the café. It’s endearing to see Chloe know everybody, waving and hugging different people as she asks about their lives and recent surgeries, their children and their appointments as though she talks to each of them every second of every day. They sit at a table in the window; the stuff that Chloe’s bought so far sits on the spare chair at their table as the menus sit in front of them.

 

“They’re nice.” Beca comments. “The flowers.”

 

“They’re Calendulas. When I was real young my mom had them around the house all the time but after she died we couldn’t have them because they reminded us too much of her but as I got older I always asked if we could buy some close to her anniversary, it’s sort of a tradition now.” Chloe’s voice lowers as she speaks; a sharp tone of sadness fills her voice as she lifts the menu to cover her face.

 

Beca has never been one for being able to comfort people. It’s uncomfortable, makes her feel awkward and she usually starts laughing from not knowing what to do which in turn makes people think she’s unbelievably rude – which she isn’t, she’s just terrible at this.

 

“I didn’t know. Sorry.” Beca half-mutters as Chloe lowers the menu.

 

“I figured.” Chloe replies. “It’s okay, you don’t have to freeze up; it was a long time ago, I was still Hailey’s age when it happened so it’s not as bad as it could be. What do you have with your grilled cheese?”

 

Beca and Chloe learn a lot about each other over their lunch; it’s a side to Chloe that Beca didn’t think she was going to see behind the sarcastic comments and what she thinks is flirting? Beca could be wrong, she’s totally clueless when it comes to feelings, relationships and being asked out – cue the horrifying flashback to seventh grade and politely turning down the offer of a date that wasn’t even a date. Beca learns that Chloe lives with her dad, loves country music, and only wears odd socks. She learns that Chloe studied piano for seven years and was even offered a place at a prestigious music school that she turned down. Beca also learns that up until Chloe was eight she hated and was terrified of horses and couldn’t go near one without tearing up and running away until she learnt that her mom loved horses and used to have two ponies of her own as a kid and how that prompted Chloe to get over her fear and learn to love them because it helped her feel closer to her mom. Chloe learns that Beca loves to skateboard and drinks too much coffee for the average sixteen year old, she learns that Beca played softball for six years and is a huge baseball fan. Beca tells Chloe embarrassing stories of her friends such as trying and failing to crash a senior’s party last year – Beca admitting that they got the address wrong and what they thought was a Saturday night party was actually a funeral for someone’s Grandma.

 

“In my defense; it was dark and the buildings looked the same.” Beca holds her hands up as Chloe wipes away the tears under her eyes from laughing.

 

Beca offers to pay but Chloe shrugs and tells Beca that she can pay her back sometime over the summer – Beca doesn’t dare ask how. The pair continue their shopping until Chloe has bought everything and they haul their load back to the truck where John and Caroline are waiting. John notices the smile still on his daughter’s face as she climbs into the truck but he doesn’t say anything about it, just smiling himself as he gets into the truck and starts the long drive home.

 

 

XxX

 

 

**[City Girl]**

 

_I_ _t’s 7AM. Where  
are you?_

 

**[Horse Girl]**

 

_My truck broke down :(_

 

Beca sighs as she locks her phone. She’s coming up to her third week in Georgia and ever since the morning at the Farmer’s Market, Chloe and Beca have just continued where they left off and find themselves continuously getting closer. For the most part; Chloe has dropped her sarcastic attitude around Beca but it still comes up from time to time and the amused smirking/assumed flirting still comes out but Beca’s beginning to hold her own – she’s not as flustered as she was and it kills Chloe to know that Beca now has comebacks.

 

**[Horse Girl]**

 

 _I’m down the road_  
from your house can  
you come and help me?

 

**[City Girl]**

 

_I_ _don’t know how  
to fix a car._

 

**[Horse Girl]**

 

 _Once again the_  
city girl jumps out.  
I know what I’m doing  
just bring me a wrench.

 

Beca doesn’t tell Chloe that she’s not exactly sure what a wrench is and rummaging through her dad’s toolbox in the shed doesn’t help because to her all the tools apart from a hammer look the same so she just ends up hauling the entire toolbox down the dirt track still in her taco pajama set with matching taco slippers.

 

“Well-” Chloe snorts when Beca comes into view. “- Aren’t you a sight for the sore eyes.”

 

“Shut up?” Beca suggests as she thrusts the toolbox at Chloe.

 

“Let me guess-” Chloe winks as she pretends to think, dropping the toolbox to the ground and opening it up. “- You don’t know what a wrench is?”

 

Beca scoffs but doesn’t admit that Chloe’s right. “I _know_ what a wrench is. I just figured you might need more than a wrench. It’s called being prepared.”

 

Chloe hums. “Okay genius; show me what a wrench looks like.”

 

Beca’s eyes grow wide as she looks between the toolbox and Chloe who has the infamous amused smile on her face as she waits patiently for Beca to pick out the wrench. It takes fifteen whole seconds of Beca stalling for Chloe to start laughing and swipe the wrench up without looking.

 

“It’s okay, City Girl. I still like you.” Chloe reassures Beca before she pops the hood and starts getting to work on the car. “Oh and Beca-”

 

Beca looks at Chloe.

 

“Cute slippers.”

 

Beca blushes as she looks down at her taco slippers, crossing her arms over her chest as she watches the way Chloe’s arms flex as she tightens whatever nuts and bolts she’s working on – Beca is really clueless. She watches the way that Chloe’s ponytail swings as she moves and the way her shirt rises as she leans further over the engine to figure out the issue. Beca makes a mental note that Chloe has three freckles on the small of her back.

 

“Fuck it.” Chloe groans as she stands back up straight and spins the wrench around her hand. “I’ll just have to call someone out later, or maybe one of the guys can help.” Chloe drops the hood and drops the wrench back into the toolbox before grabbing the keys from the ignition and locking the truck.

 

“You’re just leaving it here?"

 

“- Uh – yeah – this isn’t some big city; nobody’s going to steal it.” Chloe laughs as she slings her arm around Beca’s shoulders. “Come on, we have a busy day ahead of us.”

 

Once again; Beca doesn’t ask but twenty-five minutes later she wishes she had when she meets Chloe in a barn surrounded by chickens.

 

“Oh hell fucking no. I’m out.” Beca holds her hands up as she slowly backs away from the barn and the clucking chickens. “I don’t like chickens.”

 

“Hey!” Chloe exclaims. “They’re probably not your biggest fans either.”

 

Beca grumbles as she stands outside the barn as Chloe collects eggs. She refuses to help, she refuses to go anywhere near something that can peck her to death. Every time a chicken starts to walk closer to Beca she squeals and backs away causing Chloe to look over her shoulder and laugh.

 

“Babe, they’re not going to kill you.” Chloe tells her for the tenth time.

 

“… That one might. I don’t like that one.” Beca points at a white chicken that’s stopped in front of Beca.

 

“She’s more scared of you than you are of her.” Chloe sings as she collects another egg.

 

“Bullshit.” Beca mutters.

 

“I was talking to the chicken.” Chloe grins only fueling Beca’s annoyance.

 

 

After Chloe stops having fun scaring the shit out of Beca with the chickens they head over to the pigs and feed them and Chloe tells Beca a story of the time that her dad fell in the pigpen and completely ate shit. Beca and Chloe meet up with a few of the other guys; Jesse, Benji and Emily are fun to have around and they make Beca feel as though they’ve all known each other for years.

 

“There’s a party tonight, you should come.” Jesse cuts Emily’s story off, holding his hand up and apologizing.

 

“A party?”

 

Jesse hums. “Yeah, we usually have one halfway through the summer, it’s at Emily’s house down the street and everybody’s coming.”

 

“Sounds fun.” Beca shrugs.

 

 

Beca doesn’t know what to wear and she bemoans the choice she has; she can either wear black, ripped jeans and a white t-shirt or she can wear just black jeans and a graphic t-shirt or she can wear a hoodie or she has her jean jacket but she’s pretty sure it won’t get that cold.

 

A knock on her bedroom door cuts off her decision-making before the door opens a little and John pokes his head in.

 

“Chloe’s here, should I send her up?”

 

“Sure.” Beca replies, her voice is so quiet that she’s unsure whether her dad heard it or not. “Whatever, it’s cool, yeah.”

 

Beca doesn’t meet her dad’s eyes once and she’s sure she hears him sigh as he retreats down the hall and it hurts. This summer was supposed to be mending the relationship between the pair of them but aside from the airport and most of the drive to the ranch; Beca and her dad have barely spoken more than two words to each other. Beca knows she’s resentful and still mad at how close he is to his new family and how it took three years for him to invite her to Georgia and she knows that’s the reason she’s unable to say more than three words to him. She knows her mom will be disappointed that they’re in the same house but essentially ignoring each other’s existence.

 

“I don’t know what kind of parties you guys have in Portland but in small-town Georgia you should probably wear clothes.” Are the first words that Chloe says upon walking into Beca’s bedroom without so much as a knock on the door.

 

“I don’t know what kind of manners small-town Georgia girls have but in big cities we usually knock on somebody’s door before just walking in.” Beca retorts, hiking up the towel that she’s wrapped in.

 

Chloe just smiles as she bumps Beca out of the way and looks in her closet.

 

“Jeans and t-shirts? That’s it?”

 

“That’s what you’re wearing!” Beca exclaims pointing to the outfit that Chloe’s wearing.

 

Chloe just smirks as she pulls out the most distressed pair of jeans that Beca owns and throws them at her whilst rifling through the t-shirts and pulling out a white one that has a skateboard logo on – it’s one that she and her friends made last summer. Chloe flops down on Beca’s bed and pulls her phone out of her pocket and gestures to the bathroom and for Beca to go and get dressed. Chloe is still on her phone by the time Beca walks out, dragging her hairbrush through her hair.

 

“How do I look?” Beca asks as she spins.

 

“Beautiful. Wear the jacket; it’ll make you look cool.” Chloe picks up and tosses the leather jacket to Beca.

 

“I’m cool.” Beca protests as she shrugs the jacket on and reaches for her own phone.

 

“Sure you are.” Chloe pats Beca’s cheek as she passes her before turning around and taking hold of Beca’s hand. “Come on, Jesse said there’s vodka.”

 

The music is blasting so loud that Beca can hear it as she and Chloe walk up the steps to Emily’s house; Emily walks up to the door with a red cup in her hand and a twizzler hanging out of the corner of her mouth.

 

“Hey guys! I’m so glad you’re here.” Emily hugs Chloe and Beca as she pulls on the twizzler before stepping aside to let them enter the house. “Have fun, get drunk, make out with a cute person – just don’t have sex in my bed – actually – have you guys seen Jesse because if he’s-”

 

“- Emily!”

 

Emily winks before turning on her heel and rushing into the kitchen. Beca doesn’t say anything as she walks in the house and she definitely doesn’t mention that Chloe still hasn’t let go of her hand, in fact, she doesn’t mention the fact that they walked hand in hand down the street, fingers intertwined as though it was completely normal for the two of them. Chloe leads them into the living room as she high-fives a couple of guys she knows before she introduces Beca to them, they have a lot of inside jokes and don’t stop laughing once. Beca watches Chloe, she watches the way Chloe’s cheeks turn pink and the huge, ear-splitting grin that she has on her face, she watches her weave into the party atmosphere with upmost ease but the thing she notices most is that Chloe still has hold of her hand.

 

“I know you’re technically still a baby but this won’t be as much fun if we’re not both sloshed.” Chloe smiles as she reaches over the counter to grab a bottle of vodka and the near-empty bottle of tequila.

 

Beca doesn’t ask what drink Chloe’s making but the smell of the vodka and tequila colliding is enough to make her eyes water. It reminds her of all the house parties that she would go to during the school year with Stacie and the rest of their friends, the drink-making reminds Beca of how Stacie would grab whatever liquor was closest and pour it into a cup – she would call it a Stacie Special but somehow it would also end up with Beca puking in some poor person’s bushes.

 

Chloe hands the drink to Beca before holding her own cup out for them to clink together.

 

“To a great night of unexpected adventure.” Chloe smirks.

 

Beca repeats the words; ignoring the fuzzy feeling bubbling in the pit of her stomach as Chloe slips her hand back into Beca’s and leads her out of the kitchen and through to the backyard where they find Jesse, Benji, Emily and a blonde, Aubrey sitting around the small fire on the patio.

 

“What’s up losers?!” Chloe cheers as she hops over Benji’s legs and sits in the final remaining seat. “Bec, come here.” Chloe holds her arm out and gestures for Beca to come over to her, they join hands long enough for Chloe to tug Beca until she’s sitting in the redhead’s lap, Chloe’s arm around Beca’s back and her arm with the drink in her hand resting across Beca’s legs.

 

“This is Aubrey, we went to school together and she’s been my best friend since I could walk. Aubrey, this is Beca and she’s John’s kid – you know – the one he left out West.”

 

Aubrey smiles at Beca. “So, you’re the famous Beca Mitchell. It’s nice to meet you.” Aubrey raises her cup to Beca.

 

“Wait-” Beca’s confused. “- All you guys know of me.”

 

“News traveled fast on the ranch.” Jesse interjects.

 

“Uh huh-” Emily agrees. “Nothing stays a secret ‘round here.”

 

Beca laughs a little as she turns her head to face Chloe and find her already staring back at her. Beca’s breath hitches in her throat at Chloe carefully gazing over her face, her eyes moving across and focusing on every inch of Beca’s face with such a soft look in her eyes. Chloe has a small smile, not a smirk, a genuine smile tugging at the corners of her lips.

 

“Your eyes are really fucking pretty.”

 

Somehow Chloe makes swearing sound soft and gentle. Beca remembers that too.

 

 

Beca’s not drunk.

 

She’s not.

 

The room is just spinning, she feels light-headed, the vodka taste in the back of her throat still burns and she definitely can’t walk in a straight line.

 

Beca’s not drunk though.

 

“I’ve been looking for you, pretty girl.” Chloe laughs at Beca stumbling out of the back door and over to where Chloe’s standing and leaning over the railings, a bottle of home-brewed beer in her hand. “Whoa, careful there.” Chloe inhales nasally as she holds her arm out to steady Beca before sliding her arm around the younger’s waist to keep her upright. “It’s okay to be a lightweight.”

 

“M’not a lightweight.” Beca weakly protests as she leans into Chloe’s side.

 

The height difference works because Beca’s able to lean into Chloe and tuck her head in-between Chloe’s neck and shoulder blade as though it was made just for her to lean into. Beca can feel Chloe breathing and she feels Chloe momentarily tense up as Beca wraps her arm around her.

 

The music is still resonating off every wall in the house, the screaming, the shouting, the off-key singing and the beer pong tournament is still in full swing as the night comes to a close with just minutes left until midnight.

 

One thing Beca hardly ever gets to see back home in Portland are the stars in the sky, living in a city that has hundreds of sky-high buildings and streetlights that are blinding when you look at them; seeing stars is almost a myth until she travels a couple of hours upstate to the woods. Looking up at the Georgia sky right now, the stars are just as blinding as the streetlights in Portland. They’re beautiful, shining against the moonlight, covering the stars as though they’re a million kisses to the blanket of dark blue and black.

 

“Pretty.” Beca comments.

 

“Stars have that affect on people.” Chloe agrees.

 

“No stars. You.” Beca mumbles out, the alcohol still affecting her speech. “Pretty, so fucking pretty.”

 

Chloe laughs but the blush rising from her neck to her cheeks is obvious.

 

Neither of them can be sure who makes the first move. Beca thinks it’s Chloe who leans in first and Chloe thinks it’s Beca who gathers up the courage to close the gap but all that both of them know is that their lips tingle when they touch. Beca’s hands are on Chloe’s waist and Chloe’s hands cover Beca’s cheeks, her thumbs grazing Beca’s cheekbones as she nudges Beca’s nose causing the younger to smile in the kiss. It’s soft; neither of them go further than just a kiss because even if Chloe’s closer to drunk than sober she knows she would never take advantage.

 

“Cool.” Beca laughs as she leans back, a huge grin on her lips as Chloe’s thumbs still brush over Beca’s cheekbones.

 

“Cool.” Chloe agrees.

 

 

Beca has had hangovers, she’s had ear-splitting headaches that cause her to groan in agony as she clutches her head and feels tears in the corners of her eyes. She’s woken up with the urge to puke up her entire stomach contents before. She’s had the guilt of the previous nights escapades come flooding back to her and felt the humiliating feeling in the pit of her stomach at the shenanigans. She’s had the feeling that she’s being stabbed in the eyes with pins. This morning isn’t like any of those. She doesn’t have the headache, she doesn’t want to puke, she doesn’t feel guilty and her eyes feel fine if you’re wondering.

 

Instead, the wakeup call at the crack of dawn has her waking up with a lazy, sleepy smile on her lips as she stares up at the ceiling with her arms behind her head as she remembers the events of last night or, one particular event from last night. Her lips still tingle when she thinks about kissing Chloe, the taste of beer and tequila on the redhead’s lips are still on Beca’s and its intoxicating. 

 

She jumps out of bed and crosses her room to the window; smiling when she sees the guys roll up in Chloe’s beat-up truck, some look better than others but Beca’s eyes instantly find Chloe as she jumps out of the truck and immediately pulls her flannel sleeves up to her elbows as she wraps Emily in her arms, more than likely trying to soothe her hangover.

 

Beca knows she’s still in her purple flannel pajamas, she knows her hair has beer in it as it lies in the top knot on top of her head and she hears her dad calling her name as she throws open the front door and skips out of the house and down the stairs.

 

“Hey guys!” Beca waves.

 

“How the fuck are you so – so-”

 

“Fresh?” Benji finishes for Jesse. Both of who look worse for wear.

 

Beca just shrugs at the guys as she bounds over to Chloe and Emily. Emily smiles and offers up a feeble wave whilst Chloe gives Beca a tight-lipped smile. Beca bounces from foot to foot for a few seconds before Chloe gets the hint and turns Emily around and sends her in the general direction of the hangout cabin is.

 

“Hey you.” Beca smiles as she tucks a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

 

“Morning.” Chloe yawns and rubs her eyes as she ties her hair up in a loose bun with the hair tie on her wrist.

 

“So – uh – last night was fun.” Beca admits sheepishly.

 

“Sure.” Chloe agrees with another yawn. “Great night. A lot of drinking. Laughing. Fun.”

 

Beca frowns and stares at Chloe wondering if she’s just trying to play it cool and keep Beca in suspense. Chloe narrows her eyes when she notices that Beca’s staring at her.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing.” Beca sighs, ignoring or at least trying to ignore the heavy, harsh feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Nothing happened; just forget you saw me this morning.” Beca mutters before turning around and walking back to the house before she can give Chloe a chance to respond.

 

 

XxX

 

 

Stacie messages Beca five days later and tells her that her parents are letting her fly out to Georgia for a week and for a few minutes Beca allows herself to forget everything about Chloe that seems to be plaguing her thoughts because she’s just about to see her best friend for the first time all summer and that’s all that matters. Beca counts down the hours because forty-seven hours sound a lot less than two days until Stacie arrives in Atlanta and she gets to go to meet her at the airport.

 

She spends the afternoon in the backyard playing baseball with Owen, Jesse and Emily. It’s an extremely hot day and Beca’s sweating as soon as she walks up to bat. Jesse is pitching and Owen is standing on the sidelines on Emily’s back cheering his sister on and it warms Beca’s heart.

 

After growing up as the only child; Beca always wished she could have a sibling and whilst she might’ve gained three siblings in the way that she wouldn’t have preferred; she gets a little brother who has become her best friend in such a short period of time, a sister who is just less than two years younger than her who she has a complicated relationship with and a baby sister who likes naps as much as she has – Beca can admit that she doesn’t particularly resent her dad’s second marriage anymore.

 

Beca gets three strikes, she knows its because she wasn’t concentrating but she doesn’t care when Emily and Owen burst out laughing and tease the shit out of her. Instead she just wraps Owen in her arms and tickles him until he’s laughing so hard that he’s got tears in his eyes.

 

 

“Beca!”

 

“Stacie!”

 

“Beca!”

 

“My best friend!”

 

“ _My_ best friend!”

 

Stacie throws her suitcase inadvertently at a less than impressed middle aged woman before she’s running and crashing through people to reach Beca and hug her so tightly that she’s pretty sure she’s going to suffocate her. They know people are staring at them as they scream and jump around and laugh hysterically in arrivals but five weeks is too long without seeing each other.

 

“Tell me, what had you so stressed on the phone?” Stacie asks when they’re in the truck and heading back to the house. Stacie looks between John driving and Beca before leaning in and keeping her voice low. “Is it a girl?”

 

“ _Oh yeah_.” Beca draws out sarcastically, scowling. “I’ll tell you when we get to the house.”

 

 

“And then she had the fucking _audacity_ to not remember!” Beca screeches as she paces her room, Stacie sits on her bed following her best friend’s every movement. “I thought she – sorta – maybe – liked me! She called me pretty girl the entire night! You don’t just kiss someone and not remember!”

 

“Dude, I mean, I’ve kissed lots of girls and guys and not remembered doing it.” Stacie shrugs but that just earns a glare from Beca. “Okay, okay, chill out, maybe she was just pretending she didn’t remember in case you regretted it? Did you ever think of that _genius_?”

 

Beca scoffs. “What’s the likelihood of that being the reason?”

 

“Why don’t you ask?” Stacie shoots back. “Come on. I’m not missing this, got any popcorn?”

 

Beca answers her by storming out of her bedroom with Stacie on her heels.

 

Beca’s almost (completely) grateful that Chloe doesn’t seem to be around when they get outside.

 

 

XxX

 

 

Stacie’s up in Beca’s bedroom on the phone with her mom when another body sits beside Beca on the steps outside the house. It’s dark, near ten at night and Beca’s shivering a little despite wearing her old softball team hoodie. A bottle of Cola is pushed into Beca’s hand as she turns around to find her dad sitting with his own bottle.

 

“Hey kiddo.”

 

“Hey dad.”

 

Beca knows this is her chance. This is the chance to admit she was wrong initially about what this summer would entail. After all, Beca imagined hating every single second of it and spending the entire eight weeks complaining and begging her mom to let her come home. She imagined hating Sheila and her three spawns of Satan that she was related to now. She imagined hating animals and spending the entire time on her ass watching TV instead of being outside and making friends, _maybe_ falling in love too _but_ she’s not sure on that one yet.

 

“We haven’t had much time to sit and chat, huh.” John starts. “I’m sorry about that; I know the whole point of this summer was to become close again and start fixing what I broke.”

 

“It’s okay.” Beca shrugs as she takes a sip of Cola. “I wasn’t exactly helping, earlier this summer, a huge part of me still resented you leaving and making this whole new life and new family but now it’s different. I _sorta_ like them.”

 

John chuckles softly.

 

“Plus-” Beca adds, surprising herself by even saying the next words. “- I guess there’s always next summer too.”

 

“You want to come back?” John’s surprised tone causes Beca to laugh, scrunching her nose up in the same way that mirrors her dad’s.

 

Beca hums. “A city girl needs her country fix from time to time.”

 

The father and daughter stay out on the steps until Stacie returns, arms wrapped around each other as they take in the beauty of the ranch at sunset, the animals idling around and the trees blowing in the summer breeze. It’s quiet but words aren’t needed; for the first time in a long time – the silence says exactly what the both of them want to hear.

 

 

Beca and Stacie take the horses for a ride on Stacie’s final day in Georgia before she goes back home, they ride up a small trail and talk about what Beca’s missed back home, they talk about Beca thinking about coming back next summer and Stacie promises that she’ll convince their friends to turn their summer plans into winter plans so she doesn’t have to miss out anymore. They talk about Chloe and Beca admits she really likes her even though she didn’t know it at first.

 

“I want an invite to the wedding.”

 

“Shut up.” Beca laughs.

 

“Have you talked to her yet?” Stacie asks as they stop for a minute and take in the midmorning view.

 

“I haven’t seen her; I guess she’s avoiding me.” Beca sighs.

 

She’s twisting her hands in the reigns and swallowing thickly at how similar they look to the first time Beca interacted with a horse and Chloe twisted the reigns around her hands the same way. Her fingers jerk a little as she remembers how Chloe’s calloused fingers brushed against hers and how that was the first time she saw past the sarcastic comments.

 

“I don’t think so. I say she has a good reason.” Stacie disagrees and Beca humors her.

 

 

It’s Beca’s final few hours in Georgia and she can honestly admit that she didn’t see herself being this sad as she packs up her suitcase and gets ready for her dad to take her back to Atlanta and the airport. Caroline appears at the door, hands behind her back as Beca turns around.

 

“Hey.”

 

“I gotta admit-” Caroline stars shyly. “- I was kinda pissed when John told me he had his daughter coming to visit this summer because I did not want to have to deal with a step-sibling.”

 

“You and me both, dude.” Beca interjects causing the both of them to smile.

 

“- But you’re a lot better than I was expecting and I’m going to miss you.”

 

“Me too.” Beca whispers as she holds her arms out for Caroline to run in and hug her. “If I got to choose who I wanted as step-siblings then I’d easily choose you three every time. Just think, you’ll see me again in less than a year.”

 

“Can’t wait.” Caroline chuckles with tears in her eyes and despite vehemently denying it; Beca has tears in her eyes too.

 

 

“You’re still here, _oh_ , thank goodness!” Chloe exclaims breathlessly as she rushes up the drive as Beca’s sitting on the steps outside the house; she has to leave in twenty minutes. “I thought I might’ve missed you.”

 

“Unluckily you caught me.” Beca deadpans, not lifting her head to meet Chloe’s eyes.

 

“No, Beca, please.” Chloe stops in front of the stairs, her hands on her hips. “I know I haven’t been around much these last two weeks but my dad was in hospital – he was sick – I was so scared because I couldn’t lose him too – but the kiss – it’s not – it wasn’t – I wanted – fuck!” Chloe exclaims loudly when she can’t seem to get her words out.

 

Beca slowly lifts her head.

 

“Is your dad okay?”

 

“He will be.” Chloe smiles a little. “I thought Jesse would’ve told you, I called him to tell him what happened.”

 

“… I’ve kinda been ignoring those guys, not intentionally, but you know.” Beca shrugs as she looks away again.

 

“I get it.” Chloe murmurs. “I wanted to kiss you that night. Actually. I wanted to kiss you before that.”

 

“When?”

 

“When you walked down the dirt track in taco pajamas with matching slippers and didn’t know what a wrench was.” Chloe admits with _that_ signature smirk tugging at the corners of her lips again. “I don’t know what it was but it was hot.”

 

Beca snorts. “Yeah right.”

 

“It’s true.” Chloe laughs as she moves closer and sits down beside Beca, their knees bumping and their arms brushing against each other’s. “I figured it was a one-sided thing which is why I didn’t kiss you until the party because I didn’t know if you liked me back and if you didn’t I could use me being drunk as an excuse.”

 

“So-” Beca holds her hand up. “- You’re the one who kissed me? I thought it was me.”

 

Chloe’s mouth hangs open. “ _That?!_ That’s what you choose to focus on? I ran all the way up your drive and you don’t even hear me telling you that I _like_ you. That I want to kiss you again.”

 

“You want to kiss me again?”

 

“I thought I’d made that pretty clear.” Chloe sighs exasperatedly.

 

“Why haven’t you then?” Beca asks, raising her eyebrow as she lets her gaze fall on Chloe.

 

“Maybe I will.” Chloe huffs.

 

“Maybe you should.” Beca grins.

 

“Just fucking kiss her already!” Jesse’ bellow comes from nearby.

 

“I don’t need to be asked twice.” Chloe holds Beca’s face between her hands before she closes the gap.

 

Just like the party, the feelings, the tingling sensation on Beca’s lips, her hands on Chloe’s waist and Chloe’s thumbs brushing over Beca’s cheekbones. It feels even better than the first and the cheering from Jesse, Benji and Emily doesn’t deter either of them. Instead, they just smile and pull each other impossibly closer until a loud cough breaks them apart.

 

“So that’s what you’ve been doing all summer?” John’s amused tone comes from behind them.

 

“Hey, dad…” Beca gives her dad two thumbs up. “How long have you – uh – been stood there?”

 

“Long enough to hear Jesse shout just fucking kiss her already.”

 

Jesse waves sheepishly as he wraps his arms around Emily and Benji’s shoulders. Beca and Chloe stand up and dust themselves off whilst Beca shoos her dad away for a few minutes.

 

“Bec, you have a plane to catch.”

 

“One minute dad, _please_.” Beca pleads and her dad takes the hint and disappears back into the house.

 

“I can’t believe I waited all summer for two kisses.” Chloe grumbles. “Worth it though.” She adds as she tucks a piece of Beca’s hair behind her ear.

 

“We’ll continue this next summer.”

 

“Promise?” Chloe asks as she sticks out her pinky.

 

Beca pulls her in by the collar of her t-shirt and kisses her quickly. “Promise.”


End file.
